So much less embarassing than leaving a smelly corpse.

Still on vacation. I got distracted by the Steelers/Ravens game that would not end and Sylar eating brains. You didn’t even need that power, dude. Why are you eating someone’s brain just to let you use your mouth to do the same thing that you can do with your hands? Anyway, I’m back home late tomorrow night, but I’m going to see if I can get through KKN and Earl/Fairy before then. I need a break before tackling more fairies and/or KKN’s migraine-inducing nonsense though.

Impressions:

Man, whatever. Yet even more Miharu and Yoite manlove sandwiching Miharu going on a date with the one non-vampire heterosexual male in the show and knitting time with Yoite and Gau. Honestly, Yoite… knitting? This is how you choose to spend your remaining days before turning into magic sparklies? Could you possibly be any fruitier? Aren’t you supposed to be about 12? I’m pretty sure that I was still playing with Hot Wheels and thought that anything with ribbons and frills would give me cooties. If somebody had asked me to knit, I’d have called them a poopface and then gone off for some Four Square.

Other than Yoite and Miharu, there were some cursory attempts to wrap up the other loose ends, but not strongly enough to actually wrap them up. Kouichi’s immortality, the feral loli, and Super Cat are just sort of left out to dry, while Raimei lets Gau keep Raikou’s little keepsake because the flame of his mancrush for Pinky burned far hotter than her sisterly hatelove did. Fuuma’s still going to dick around with everything since he really learned nothing from this mess and Kumohira’s quest for second base will have to wait for the second season: Nabari no Ou 2: Miharu vs NAMBLA.

Final thoughts at the bottom.

Final Thoughts:

Nabari was at times fun, exciting, awful, yaotastic, boring, and frustrating. It started well, and aside from the last episode, which could have been condensed to a 90 second montage playing during the ED of the previous episode, had a pretty solid ending as well. Most of the middle… had some issues. The problem lies in the characters, and not because they were a pair of effeminate boys with crushes on each other. From the start, Miharu’s personality gimmick was that he was apathetic and didn’t care about anything. Then they matched that up with… somebody who didn’t care about anything. So you had two characters with fundamentally the same personality both standing around and… not caring about things together. Neither were motivated or had the drive to actually do anything except let things unfold around them which would supposedly lead them to their goals which, if you force fed them some Red Bull, they might be able to muster up some excitement to reach. So all those Miharu and Yoite episodes were pretty much just wasted time since they had all the drive and depth of a stagnant puddle.

Other characters were a little bit better, but the Ash Wolves had some issues in general because there were confused signals sent throughout the show. The head antagonists were clearly evil and out to rule the world, but most of the rest were presented as basically just doing this as their day jobs and their thoughts on the whole "world domination" or even "Evil Mr Frosty who kills children" were conveniently omitted, letting them skate by on a shade of grey by just omission of development more than anything else. In contrast, Kouichi, Raimei, and Kumohira were pretty much flawless shining knights, whose only ‘flaws’ were either ignorance or in Kumohira’s case, excessive preachiness. There was also a lot of wasted potential with some characters, namely Kouichi and Shijima.

Overall though, it wasn’t that bad a show. It would have been a really solid 13 episodes had they trimmed down all the Yoite and Miharu to manageable levels and got rid of a lot of the Kumohira angsting and/or Gau in general. I’d say that there are probably about 10 really enjoyable episodes in this series, which isn’t that bad of a ratio, but there are literally month long stretches that will force you to question what the series is really about. I certainly did like the unique visuals, especially the watercolored background art which has become JCStaff’s style in recent years, though could have used a little less of the blurred action sequences, but in the end, for all the mocking that I do of the yaoi vibes, weird direction, and even the occasional massive production error, I do consider it an above average show. 

As to what an average show is though… that one’s up to you.

MIHARU CRUSH PUNY HUMANS!

Impressions:

Well, the first half of the episode was awesome, but not always for the right reasons. Violence against the manic blind and giant glowing Miharus are certainly one direction to go with your ninja yaoi action show, but really, it was Yoite going berserk in the first couple minutes and using his ability to pick up and then detonate Hattori’s corpse that put a smile on my face. It’s too bad Miharu’s mom appeared and talked him out of her berserk rage. I’d have liked to see giant energy Miharu tromp around the landscape for a little while.

As for the second half… lots and lots of wrapup heading into A Very Special Miharu x Yoite ending next episode. Seriously, this episode ends with the two meeting in a church all by themselves. Isn’t that one of the top places for Japanese yaoi fantasies to take place? I don’t know, I’m not really up to date on the literature here. Maybe I’m just thinking of Catholic priests and little ninjas. Apparently Raikou really is dead too, which is kind of a surprise to me. Sure, he collapsed on screen, but honestly, his wounds were no worse than Yukimi’s, and he didn’t have to deal with a giant Miharu exploding five feet away from him. Why couldn’t they kill that annoying Fuuma jerk instead?

The important part here is that I’m still giggling to myself when I think about Hattori’s corpse exploding. That kind of entertainment almost made the exceedingly boring second half of the episode worth it. I’m just hoping that the yaoi antics in the final final episode next week aren’t too overbearing. A double suicide might make it alright though.

Preview:

It’s raining men.

Suck it, Hattori.

Impressions:

Absolutely awesome episode, though not really all that much in terms of plot advancement. Miharu goes berserk, Kumohira’s magical doohickey unseals Miharu (and everybody else’s memories) of when he inherited the spirit of the All-Nature and he went berserk again from getting to watch his parents killed in front of him. Let’s just ignore the production mistake of a young Kouichi. So much for immortality, eh? Hattori, ever the arrogant jerk-off, tries to finally grab the power, but Yoite gets in the way, and instead of just stepping on his head or something, Hattori decides to taunt the now desperate and crazy Yoite and gets a point blank full-hand blast to the gut, taking him down.

Well, more of a summary than I meant, but lots of action throughout, and while we’ve more or less known about Miharu and Kumohira’s past since the second episode or so, we got to fill in some of the final gaps of his past. I thought the whole "Forget!" thing was a little over done, especially with continuity-breaking Kouichi (and the cat!) just sort of hanging out there, along with Fuuma. You couldn’t swing a dead cat in that forest without hitting a ninja I guess. The giant DNA strand spiralling into the sky was also pretty silly, as were the illusions of various nature scenes when Miharu started going berserk in earnest, but otherwise, a very solid episode.

This is why I liked the series at the start though. Not that whiny, angsty "let’s all be friends" nonsense. Ninjas beating the hell out of each other in blurry vision with CG letters crawling over everything. Hopefully the last couple episodes won’t disappoint either. Maybe we can at least go out on a high note.

Preview:

Fuuma looks entirely too happy and Yoite looks entirely too scared of sticking his finger in his ear.

Sweatier and bloodier than normal for this show.

Impressions:

Well, here we are again, exactly where we were at the start of episode 21, only Raikou has a new sword… now wasn’t that a wonderful use of time?

I guess I should get the bile out of my system because this was actually a very solid episode. If they were all like this, I’d never complain. Sure, I’d mock Hattori’s giant evil head and the stupidity of the backhand knife grip (honestly, you have to move your entire arm to defend your body instead of just rotating your wrist). I’d probably also make fun of the SHOCK scene when Hattori took down Raikou just because of how cheesy it was. They literally flashed through every character in the room with a red tinted background, looking aghast. It’s not even like Hattori knifed him or anything. It just looked like he slapped Raikou’s brand new sword in half and then punched him in the gut, or maybe in his sword wound.

Really though, like I said, a thoroughly enjoyable episode, full of action in various qualities. Most of it was very short, coming in 20-30 second bursts, but after the first 8 minutes or so, it was pretty much constant. My favorite was easily the one between Yukimi and Raikou. Not quite the Spike vs Vicious duel, but both looked impressive enough. The fight between Yae’s group and the two remaining Banten elite was pretty lame and silly, especially because they don’t really seem to have anything to do with anything else going on at the moment. It was also nice to see vampire Kouichi again. Why he doesn’t just use his vampire magic cheats to take down people constantly is beyond me. Raikou already knows that he’s some kind of eldritch abomination unto man and god, does he really care that Gau might know that too? It’s nice to see the feral loli again too. As I recall, she’s quite a bit more important in the manga and is similar to Kouichi or something.

Oh yeah, and it’s completely a shock and totally out of nowhere that the preview reveals that the Banten doohickey is Kumohira’s earring. I mean, who could have seen that one coming? Shocking! I’m really hoping that berserk-mode Miharu’s first act is to tear Hattori in half. Even though Hattori showed that he’s still got the moves, I want him to die and go away already. Scratch that, I want Gau torn in half first. What the hell is he even doing there?

Ultra Brief Summary:

Hattori rambles onward at Yoite for most of the first half while Yukimi whines at him that Yoite’s still a kid. Two of the Ash Wolf elite attack Yae’s group, while the other two defend the Ash Wolf HQ. Kumohira returns and is greated by the feral loli. Raikou takes down one of the remaining assassins (but is injured in the process… and later takes him down again), the other tries to stop Raimei’s group. Hattori has Yukimi fight Raikou, but Raikou wins. Hattori tries to make Yoite deal with him next, but Yoite can’t do it, so Hattori drops Raikou on his own. Raimei senses something’s up, so she and Gau go on ahead, letting Kouichi use his vampire ninja powers to take down the other assassin. Raimei and Gau enter and see the fallen Raikou as Miharu starts to go berserk and darkness overwhelms the city.

Preview:

The earring!? Really!? I never guessed it!

Certainly better than a sharp stick in the eye at the very least.

Impressions:

Yawn. A tremendously boring episode, only barely livened up by a couple extremely blurry sword clashes towards the end. I had trouble staying away through the first half, and I watched it around noon. I’m a little confused to exactly how that fight even went. First, the three Ash Wolves were all at hand’s distance from Banten (and Gau), and then suddenly, they had all teleported back to Yoite and Miharu to knock them over. Did Kouichi and Raimei just let them run back and take hostages? Gau, sure… I can understand him being completely useless. He didn’t even throw a punch. "Run up and get kicked in the face… sounds like a good plan!" I don’t even know why Kouichi bothers with these punks either. You’re immortal, dude. Just let them hit you in the face with a knife, then pull the scary eyes routine and stab them back. It was a good strategy before, it’d be a good strategy again. There were also a few screwball proportions this week with the swords for that matter. Raikou’s sword in particular seems to have shrunk by a couple feet, and the closer up you get to your enemy, the longer the blade becomes.

But yeah… Yukimi carts off Miharu and Yoite for his own purposes after they escape the sewer, Fuuma rescues Yae, and Raikou officially gets kicked out of the Ash Wolves, and Koutarou goes over to annoy that one guy who used to be a main character but has been missing for the past month and nobody seems to care. Can’t seem to remember his name… Kubohiro or something. Not like he’s an important character that they’re supposed to be looking for to unlock this omnipotence thing. Sheesh.

Preview:

Back to bondage play for Miharu.

…If the door has no knob!?

Impressions:

Let me get this straight, Hattori… you went to the middle of a warzone, and because you saw people killing there, you decided the logical course of action would be to make a bid for controlling the world? That’s one hell of a post-traumatic stress disorder. I shouldn’t even need to point out that you, the ninja photographer who took down 5 guys with guns pointed at you, should probably have been able to take out the entire attacking force by yourself if you weren’t too busy trying to get good pictures. What would Ben Parker think of you? Also, that shot of him next to the full moon ranks at least a roquefort on the cheese-o-meter.

An extrordinarily boring episode, only livened up by Raikou occasionally wailing on nameless thugs and the bewildering stupidity of various characters. Miharu’s in a room, and the door to the outside has no knob. He doesn’t try to push it, slide it, or kick it down, he just notes that there’s no knob and comes to the conclusion "well, I’m screwed." Why would you even build a door with no knob? There’s a lock on the other side. What is the point of a knobless door? To make matters worse, his plan for escape was "pretend I need to use the bathroom, and throw pepper in the guard’s eyes." That guard needs to be shot. Gau’s plan for breaking out Yoite by drugging one guard is also circumspect. Was he counting on Yoite to be able to fight his way out? That guard also needs to be dragged out into the street and shot. "Oh hey, it’s someone sympathetic to the prisoner saying that he just wants to visit and he’s brought me food and drink… what a nice fellow." I’m pretty sure that’s straight out of the Evil Overlord’s List of qualities to avoid in your prison guards.

Aren’t we supposed to be finding Kumohira? How will I remember that his doodad is in his earring if they don’t show it to me every week?

Preview:

Aftera few days of bright sunshine and warmth, it’s blizzarding again.

BUY THE DAMNED DVD!

Impressions:

Only the last 5 minutes or so had anything of any interest, which isn’t really particularly unusual, I suppose. The giant messages about the first DVD was especially jarring and out of place. On the other hand, it happened while Gau was whining like a little baby, so it provided some amusement that the moment was lacking, but that was still pretty shilltastic. Is that a word? Probably not. I’ll attempt to start using it more.

It is nice to finally see some people in this evil organization out to take over the world that are actually evil for once, and surprisingly competent for being dressed like a bunch of plumbers. Then again, Yoite hasn’t really been up to his original abilities recently, and even then, he never took on more than one person even way back when he helped crush Fuuma. It was nice to see the three people scatter at his opening shot and then triple team him to take him out like yesterday’s trash. He deserves some violent ass kicking for all the whining he’s been putting us through recently.

Brief Summary:

Miharu uses his cutesy powers for the first time in about three months to find Yae, and through her heart-reading powers, tries to get the All-Nature spirit to help him save Yoite. Gau also figures out that the Ash Wolves proper don’t care a whit about finding and saving Yoite, even after Gau whines incessantly at Hattori. That makes him go cry to Raikou for some hugs and reassurance. Around this point, Kumohira heads back to the clearing where he saved Miharu way back in the flashback way back in episode one or two. It’s been five months… you may have also forgotten it.

Back with Yae and the All-Nature, she doesn’t take kindly to being given requests and attempts to mind crush Yae and Miharu. He manages to save Yae, but then the spirit abandons him and takes off. Maybe you should stop calling her a fairy, Miharu. Then the elite Ash Wolf crew shows up and immediately subdues Yoite. To be dicks, they show Yae that they bombed her ninja office earlier. They then go to kill Yoite, but Miharu tells them that Miharu himself will die if they kill his boylover.

Preview:

This preview was a gallery of people tied up and looking miserable. I think that means that it’s going to turn into rape hentai.

KANEDAAAAAAAA!

Impressions:

Another episode where absolutely nothing happened and it did so very very slowly. We learn that Gau is a whiny little girl and basically Raikou’s maid, Yukimi named Yoite after having the little angsty brat dumped on him, and in the last three minutes or so, Miharu and Yoite go rogue and steal the Ash Wolves’ files. Since the writers finally realized that the Ash Wolves’ stated goal is world domination and omnipotence, a group of apparently unhinged elite assassins hobos and blue collar workers get called in. Where were these guys during every other fight the Ash Wolves had? Apparently they were just out hanging and drowning helpless businessmen. 

Maybe they’ll at least provide some conflict or something to drive this show for awhile, though the preview just shows some angry eyes. You’ve got to admit that the speedsuit that one of them is wearing is certainly hot grey. How convenient that there are four of them too; an adult, a bishi teen, a generic teen, and a girl. It’s like they assembled the dark Banten group here. Throw in Yukimi to have some kind of angsty showdown with his foster son where he decides to follow his heart instead of helping his boss achieve godhood and whammo, there’s your final battle/arc.

Man, I hope I’m wrong.

Also, Zero may be a bit late tonight. I’ve got dinner guests! (oho!)

Preview:

Quick! Quick! Flesh out the final villains before anybody realizes that we introduced them at the last minute!

Did your husband pick it out for you?

Impressions:

Why is it always "one month to live" or "one week to live." I mean, sure, a nice round number sounds better, 30 days or so is quite a wide margin or error and no less arbitrary than saying "x weeks." Then again, I guess when your cause of death is "magical ninja backlash" pinning down an exact time frame probably is more difficult than usual. Luckily though, at the rate this show is going, the next six episodes will only cover maybe four days worth of time.

Even less happened this episode than usual. Miharu was told that Yoite only had a month left to live (with Yoite overhearing it). On his way to emo it up in the streets, he ran into Raikou, got into an argument over people being important and zapped both him and Gau. Unfortunately, it was apparently a healing zap against Gau. Wasn’t he saying awhile ago that he can only kill? Now he’s bringing people out of comas. Guess you were wrong, but you’re still whining about it. After emoing it up for awhile and leaving a giant trail of blood and collapsing in it, Miharu finally found him and there was a yaoi power hug where Yoite begged to be saved and said that he didn’t want to die anymore.

I do have to admit that I did like the last scene, but most of the rest was pretty boring and predictible from start to finish. If anybody thought that Yoite really killed Gau, I’ll slap them and call them stupid. I also have to wonder why nobody else was interested in the giant trail of blood leading up to a kid with atrophied arms and legs sitting in a hospital gown in a pool of blood. Around Christmas no less. Where is this, New Jersey?

I’m still continuing to have issues, even at this late stage, in wrapping my head around the Ash Wolves as ‘good’ guys, or at least morally ambiguous protagonists. You’re working for an organization that supports corrupt organizations and is trying to conquer the world. You are not nice people. All this pretending otherwise is just silly. When somebody finally remembers to actually look for Kumohira and you get the Banten doohickey, maybe someone will remember that and we can go back to having some actual plot that isn’t fueled by teenage boylove angst. When there’s an actual antagonist, things get interesting. There’s direction, conflict, movement, plot, vampire Kouichi. Without one we get… well… this. Yoite moping around and Miharu hugging him and telling him it’s alright for the seventh or eigth time now.

Preview:

Aren’t they supposed to be looking for Kumohira? I’m pretty sure Yoite has no clue where Kumohira is.

Cluebat 9000 get.

Impressions:

This was a pretty enjoyable episode, even though very little happened. I’m curious how long they’re going to beat around the bush before just coming out and saying that Banten’s magic widget is/is in Kumohira’s earring. I don’t know how many more times they need to show it close up and have it sparkle. Then again, it could also be engraved on the stick he has permanently wedged up his nether regions. Watching him fight these days is just sad. He hasn’t beaten anybody since… when… the first episode? Yukimi knows that Kumohira’s not going to kill him. What’s Kumohira going to do? Proselytize him to death?

Sorry, distracted easily. Too used to complaining about the show. Despite absolutely nothing really happening, there was at least a lot of running around and short little flurries of action, every single one of them involving Yukimi. He fought 90% of the cast this episode I think, and beat every single one of them. Sure, Yoite didn’t use his finger banging attack, and apparently his hands are falling apart while he spits up blood, but after going against Raimei, Kouichi, Raimei again, and Kumohira, you’d think he’d be at least a bit bushed. I also got a chuckle out of the Kouichi/Raimei ‘confession’ scene… especially how the storekeeper checked out Raimei’s Kouichi’s ass after the two left. Also along the "unsubtle seduction of the innocent" lines, Yukimi’s "I’m not a lolicon!" was also unintentionally funny. I’m not sure that Raimei would count as a child in most books though.

Preview:

Yoite so saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!